Renovation broadcast

KMSKA 2.0

Transcription movie

Nico Van Hout on the closure of the museum

[The film begins with Dr. Nico Van Hout, a curator with the Royal Museum of Fine Arts
Antwerp, speaking as he walks through the museum. He is talking about the paintings that have been
lined on the floor against the walls. The camera shows the works.]

Dr. Nico Van Hout:

“These paintings have been packed and lined against the walls in preparation of their transfer
to Lier and other museums. It saddens me to see all these pieces removed from the galleries. After
all, the museum will remain closed for several years.”

[Music begins. The camera pans quickly through the rooms of the museum. Since the closure
of the building, they have been used as extra storage space for the collection pending its transfer
to various locations. There are numerous paintings – some already packed in cases – leaning against
the walls or lying on the ground. The title of the film is superimposed: “Nico Van Hout on the
Closure of the Museum – Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp”. The interview with Dr. Van Hout
continues. He points at the paintings he is talking about. The camera zooms in. As the interview
progresses, the screen is split. On the right, Dr. Van Hout providing commentary; on the left,
shots of various paintings.]

Dr. Nico Van Hout:

“Some of the paintings in this next room will serve as centrepieces in an exhibition in Lier,
including The Adoration of the Magi by Pieter Bruegel the Younger. The exhibition will feature a
broad selection of paintings illustrating Bruegel's influence on subsequent Flemish artists right
up into the 20th century. We're also collaborating on some international exhibitions, including in
the United States. And a number of loans have been arranged to museums here in Belgium and in the
Netherlands. So quite a few paintings will remain on public display. Inevitably, though, many will
not. That also saddens me. As a curator, I prefer to see paintings hanging on museum walls. That
speaks for itself.

[The camera zooms in on the barcodes that have been attached to the paintings. The
interview with Dr. Van Hout continues.]

Dr. Nico Van Hout:

“These barcodes are a way of identifying the paintings and facilitating the transfer of the
collection. You see, the museum holds several thousand works of art. Obviously it would be
impractical for all members of staff to have to memorise their titles. It's much simpler to scan
the code before transportation, so that we know precisely what comes in or goes out of the
museum."

[The camera shows paintings that have been stored in the rooms of the museum. The interview
continues in another room, containing various works on panel. As Dr. Van Hout speaks, he walks over
to the paintings to explain about the cradles that have been applied to the back of the panels. He
then walks to a kind of table that is used to unblock and repair panels.]

Dr. Nico Van Hout:

“The collection includes quite a few paintings on panel. Not all of these panels are in equally
good condition. And when you move a painting to another location, the climatic conditions may vary
or fluctuate. Moreover, back in the 19th century, many panels were fitted with a cradle, as in
these examples. Battens were glued to the back of the panels to keep them straight or flat. But in
fact such interventions were ill-advised, because the cradle restrains the wood. This can cause the
panels to split. So it's important to unfasten the battens prior to transportation, so that the
wood could react to changing conditions. Here we have a system to unblock panels or to fix any
splits that may have appeared. That's what we use these tables for.”

[Dr. Van Hout enters the Rubens gallery, where two men are in the process of moving a case.
The interview continues. Images are shown of the panels Dr. Van Hout is talking about.]

Dr. Nico Van Hout:

“During the closure of the museum, many of the large altarpieces by Rubens will be kept in safe
storage. These hatches will be opened and the paintings will be lowered into a kind of bunker.
Below, there is a large vault with very thick walls, where the altarpieces can be safely stored
without moving them out of the building. So they will stay inside the museum, protected behind
massive walls, while the building is converted.”

“We'll be unable to continue our research on the altarpieces during the closure. In the past
years, we've been using raised platforms to study details in the paintings from close by as part of
our ongoing Rubens research. The results have been published. Details are also available on the
museum website. As these large paintings will soon be locked away during the years of renovation
work to the building, we're trying to finalise as much of the research as possible. The smaller
paintings will be available for study elsewhere. But these monumental pieces will be inaccessible
in their safe storage.”

[Standing on the platform, two research assistants are photographing Peter Paul Rubens’s
Baptism of Christ. The words Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp – Closed but close by appear on the
screen and the film ends.]